CHP Releases Details On Fatal HWY 12 Crash
San Andreas, CA – The CHP has released information regarding a fatal crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 12 west of San Andreas that took the life of a Tracy woman.
The three-vehicle collision happened around 3:45 p.m. west of Central Hill Road after a rainfall that made the roadway slick, according to the CHP San Andreas Unit. Spokesperson Officer Jeremy Cooper reports that a 16-year-old from Valley Springs was driving a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado pickup westbound on the highway at about 50 mph. At around the same speed and coming from the opposite direction was a 2014 Jeep Cherokee driven by 27-year-old Weston Stu lac of Columbia. Behind him was 54-year-old Tara Miller of Arnold, driving a 2005 Dodge Ram truck with an unidentified 46-year-old passenger from Tracy.
While westbound, the highway expands into two lanes after Central Hill Road, allowing for a fast and slow lane heading up a steep grade. Cooper relayed that as the juvenile driver tried to pull into the slow lane, he spotted another vehicle and suddenly swerved back into the fast lane, causing his pickup to slide into oncoming traffic, sideswiping the Jeep.
The impact sent the Chevy pickup head-on into the Dodge Ram driven by Miller, who sustained major injuries and her unidentified passenger suffered fatal injuries. Cooper noted, “Both occupants of the Dodge Ram were not wearing a seatbelt. The driver of the Dodge Ram was transported to San Joaquin General Hospital and the passenger was transported to Mark Twain Medical Center, where she was pronounced deceased.”
No other injuries were reported in the crash, and the CHP stated that DUI was not a factor in this collision, which remains under investigation.
